Return of Mega Mantis Read Online Free PDF Page A

The floor was scratched and scuffed.
    “Creeptastic!” Lindsey said.
    “It looks like something was in here,” Ranger said, examining the floor. “Bugs?”
    “Hmmm . . .” I said.
    “Maybe it was something like the Claaaaaw Monster,” Stella joked, putting on an evil voice and waving her hand in my face. “I’m coming to claaaaaaw you—”
    “Don’t say it!” I cowered.
    I hate the Claw Monster almost as much as I hate bugs. The Claw only appeared in one Leery movie, but it was one of the scariest Leery films ever. In the movie, the Claw Monster goes from an ordinary hand to a five-fingered monster that no one can control. The Claw has hypnotic powers that convince otherwise ordinary hands to become crazy claws like it is! In the movie, all the hands turn on their humans.
    Stella was laughing at me. I’d lost my nerve again and that girl was never going to let me forget it.
    “We’d better move!” Ranger said.
    “We have a date with Mega!” Stella said. “While we’re in here poking around, that bug might be wreaking havoc on our entire town!”
    “Gee,” I said, “maybe Mega will step on Riddle Elementary and we won’t have school tomorrow.”
    “You say that because you haven’t studied for the vocabulary quiz,” Stella said.
    “I studied more than you did!” I snapped defensively. But that was a big, fat lie. Since the Monster Squad formed, I had barely done my homework. It was tough fighting monsters and cramming for tests at the same time.
    “Hey! Over here!” Ranger called out. He found another weird door. “Let’s go this way. Maybe we’ll find Walter.”
    The new door led outdoors. We entered a maze of bushes and trees that wound around itself like some kind of snake.
    “This is a-maze-ing!” Lindsey called out, chuckling at her own pun.

    I recognized a few of the shapes. Crabzilla, Slimo, and Chomp-O were all right here in green leaves.
    “Look!” Stella cried. “There’s Claw Monster!”
    We stopped and stared. The Claw’s fingers pointed in a single direction.
    Thataway.
    The maze path led us into a wide, open, and strangely peaceful space. And there was Walter! He stood at the top of a little ladder, trimming shears in hand.

    “We found you!” we all cried at the same time.
    “Oh. Hello, kids,” Walter said. “Was I lost?”
    “Holy guacamole!” Ranger said, pointing up.
    I could not believe my eyes. At the center of this enormous topiary maze was the biggest trimmed tree of all.
    Mega Mantis.
    “Dr. Leery and I have been following your every move,” Walter said. He climbed down the ladder.
    “You’re not the only one following us,” Lindsey said, pointing down at the ground.
    I froze when I saw what was coming.
    Trailing behind us were hundreds of carpenter ants.
    And they looked like a real army, ready to attack.

CHAPTER 7
    IN DAMON’S ROOM
    “Quick, kids!” Walter said, hopping off his ladder. “Follow me.”
    “No! I’ll get ’em!” Stella cried. She started stomping like a maniac.
    “Stella, not even a ninja can stomp this many ants,” I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her after us.
    We retreated to the main part of the castle.
    “I can buy us some time,” Walter assured us. “Just wait here.”
    Wait here? Was he kidding?
    Ranger, Lindsey, Stella, and I freaked. The ants were marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah . . . The song from kindergarten played inside my head.
    Then the ants followed us inside.
    We hopped up onto a velvet sofa. As the ants surrounded the claw feet on the sofa, I tried not to panic. But it was impossible to tell where the rug stopped and the ants began.
    Then Walter raced back into the room. “Close your eyes!” he commanded.
    All at once, I saw a bright flash of green light. Walter held a black stick that looked like a flashlight. He aimed it at the ants.
    Zap! Flash! Zap! Flash!
    Like magic, the bugs lined up in neat rows.
    “How did you get the bugs to do that?” Ranger asked.
    “Wow,” I said. “Can I